Bomb threat at Wewahitchka Elementary under investigation
A written bomb threat was located in a bathroom at Wewahitchka Elemenraty School Wednesday afternoon, according to a press release from the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office.
The school resource deputy assigned to the school received a report of the threat at the end of the school day as students were about to be dismissed.
A search was conducted after all students had left the campus. No explosive devices were located.
“I’ve got an investigator assigned to it,” said Sheriff Mike Harrison. “They’re trying to look at the video surveillance and narrow down the time frame. We’ll be interviewing some kids and some of the teachers that were there in the area and hopefully determine who did this.”
Harrison said investigators will continue to investigate the threat and will work with the school resource deputy and school administration to identify a suspect and determine disciplinary action.
“It’s not a joke. We were having this happen too often. The last two times we were able to identify this subject and we pressed criminal charges against them,” Harrison said. “And I know we’re dealing with probably an elementary-school-aged child here, but unfortunately we have to do our job, and part of that is going to be following with charges.”
This is the third bomb threat at a Wewahitchka school this year, following two at Wewahitchka Hich School in February and May. All three threats have been written.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.